Planning A Kitchen Garden

Yes you read the title correctly. It’s about time to starting planning the gardens, but today I am discussing the importance of getting the vegetable garden planned out. Not only will hard work pay off, but the process of planting and maintaining a potager more enjoyable.

I like getting an early start, purchasing seeds and deciding what will be cultivated each year. Making selections early will guarantee the varieties you wish to grow are available. Already the piles of seed catalogs clutter the desk, eager to be flipped through. Doesn’t your mouth just water when you starting glancing through those catalogs?

Each year I map out where all of the vegetables will grow. I rely on previous years of drawings and notes to rotate crops and adjust; trying vegetables better suited for the garden. A few years back I had a small kitchen garden off the side of my home, which was a real joy to have, but the voluminous amount of fresh vegetables I wanted to grow just didn’t happen. The problem was insufficient sunlight. So I looked into finding a proper location. I found a community garden site near my home and with much excitement dug in.

Here was my kitchen garden in the spring of 2007 outside my home. Spring cleaning was underway just in time for the pebble-stone path to be put in. Today this garden is pure flowers, better suited for this site.

Vegetable gardens require two major factors for optimal productivity, adequate sunlight; around eight hours and the other water. Soil does contribute to a gardens success, as long as it is friable and naturally fertile. Adding sufficient nutrients get things off to a good start. I rely on organic fertilizers for the best quality vegetables. A well-tended garden with regular applications of compost requires little additional fertilizer.

Let me just talk about how sunlight really makes a difference. Growing cutting greens at home I was able to cook up about five or six meals for two in one growing season, and in my community garden spot that gets sunlight all day, I was able to feed ten people each week for the entire season. That was huge in comparison to what I was accustomed too, but you are never short on friends and neighbors who are willing to take vegetables off your hands.

With all seed orders sent, I will be getting ready to clean up the garden and start seeds indoors. Remember, maintaining a garden whether for flowers or vegetables is a joyous thing and certainly worth all your efforts.